Day 9: Home is where the heart is

Have you seen this man at Kmart?

Well, it actually took 11 hours. We drove through antelope and big bird country, sun, rain and even snow!

We saw osprey nests

and drove through the same country traveled by pioneers heading West on the Oregon Trail. It was beautiful.

At Jackson Hole, I stopped at the Kmart and talked to a few of the locals. I decided to conduct a completely unscientific poll:

Me: Hey, do you ever see Harrison Ford shopping here?
Local woman: No, he wouldn’t shop at Kmart. I’ve seen him around town in lots of places, but never in Kmart.
Local woman’s husband: He’s a regular guy. I’ve seen him around town. He’s the kind of guy who’d come in and buy his own garden hose.

We wended our way home, Payton and I, and we only got lost once. I called and got directions from Joe, my son-in-law, who told me that I was headed for Montana, not Boise. Easy enough fix, I just turned around!

We stopped and saw some lava mounds at a rest area between Idaho Falls and Twin Falls, but other than that, we just raced to get home.

It’s true that being a sort of vagabond, living out on the road, has its charm. But, hey, every day is a wonderful new gift, and what’s going to happen, what’s around that corner — I can’t wait to find out!

And also true: There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.

Coming:
Who knows? But I’m excited about it!!

Day 8: “Nobody told me there’d be days like these.” — John Lennon

I’m so anxious to get home, but still so far away!

Payton and I headed towards Wyoming and had to stop at Johnson’s Corner for a cinnamon roll. It’s right there on I-25 as you head north out of Denver and it’s just before you get to Loveland. It was opened in 1951 by Joe S. Johnson, as a gas station and café at the exact half-way point between Denver and Cheyenne. Folks thought Joe was crazy for building this in the middle of nowhere, but I don’t think anyone thinks he’s crazy now.
World-famous Johnson\'s Corner cinnamon roll
It’s open 24/7 and is known worldwide for its famous cinnamon rolls that are as big as your head!!! They told me they sell 2,000 cinnamon rolls on a good day!!!

It was also featured in the Bill Murray/Matthew McConaughey movie: “Larger Than Life.”

There’s really not much of this story left to tell…

We crossed into Wyoming and stopped at this Lincoln monument:

When you drive for a long time and you are alone in the car (except maybe for your dog, Payton, who doesn’t raise an eyebrow to your wild and wooly thoughts), you can come up with some fantastic, creative, awesome ideas! I finally had to leave a pen and paper close by so I wouldn’t forget.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I can’t read a word, it’s all scribbly.

We stayed in Rock Springs that night and we were told by the service station guy there that it would only take about six hours of driving the next day to get back to Boise.